The Long Game - The Golden Walls of an Empty Room

[jessicaqueen]

Ah, The Long Game. I actually like this episode, unlike a lot of people. The Adam arc, for example, is such a brilliant set-up and contrast to Rose's mistakes in the very next episode, Father's Day, for one thing. But I think most of these aspects have been covered by other rewatch posts, so I want to focus on something a bit different

Comments

[sunrise_sets]

Great analysis of Floor 500. "The walls are made of gold" line also reminded me of the City of Gold and the legends behind it.

[jessicaqueen]

I like the idea of a whole satellite filled with people sort of pointedly ignoring what goes on upstairs. Yay for what Floor 500 adds to The Long Game.

[cassandra_elise]

Great analysis. You brought up some really heady issues. :)

[jessicaqueen]

Thanks. I like to try to see the bigger picture when watching DW, yeah.

[spellweaver731]

Nicely said. It is these subtle nuances that make this episode so good. They can be easy to miss, the walls being made of gold line was always one of my favorite quotes.

[tardis_stowaway]

Nice analysis! I like this episode too. (Well, it's one of my less favorite S1 episodes, but that's only because I adore the others so very much. I still like this quite a bit!)

You raise some great points about people's tendency to compete toward arbitrary rewards and the possibility that fear of the police state is keeping people from questioning the party line about floor 500. It's also worth remembering the Editor's line, "the computer system allows me to see inside their brain... I can see the smallest doubt - and crush it." Almost all people on the satellite have chips in their brains, so their thoughts can be accessed and perhaps altered...I'm not sure exactly what the tech allows. Also, people at the heart of the news empire have a lot invested in supporting the system. As we see from the news about the riots, it seems that people outside Satellite Five are not quite so complacent.